A London memory

Today as I sat down for lunch (reheated Indian food an leftover fish and chips) I was taken back to a day in London in 2005. Back in 2005 I was blogging, but hadn't quite started yet. Plus, I was kind of a lousy blogger when it came to trips (I have one tiny Italy post! What?! Italy was AMAZING and I only wrote ten words and posted five pictures. Shame shame).

Anyway, back to my lunch. The flavors of Indian food in one bite and fish and chips in the next speaks one thing to me: an English Pub. Someone might be surprised to find Indian food in an English Pub, but actually on most pub menus you can find one or two Indian things.

As I sat there eating, looking out at the gray windy day, a flood of memories came rushing forward.

It was maybe our third day in London, on our first international trip ever. If you've know me for awhile, or knew me when I was young, you'll remember that my heart was in one place: travel.

I could not wait for the day that I could explore international destinations. It was and is a life long dream to travel many foreign lands.

Boy, this post is long winded. Sorry about that.

Anyway, back to that day in London. It was cold. And windy. It was early spring and E and I had taken the tube to St. Paul's cathedral in the middle of downtown. St. Paul is easily London's most grand cathedral.

We exited the tube, oriented ourselves, and set off towards our first destination of the day. Once there we decided to take a tour. All I remember of the tour was it was so boring. Long and boring with a million details of dead priests.

Finally, after two hours, I convinced E to sneak away from the tour with me. Thinking back this makes me giggle, as if our tour guide didn't notice when two people left, the entire tour was six people large.

Instead we decided to walk, or climb, to the top of the tower. Up up up up. Oh my gosh. I was exhausted, but it was well worth the climb.

When we were done with our decent we found a pub across the street. Inside we decided to sit upstairs. I remember we were the only ones, and it felt so good to be inside, out of the freezing spring London weather.

We ordered the most delicious fish and chips of my life (and peas, too, because the English love peas with fish and chips).

All of these memories came in almost a flashback today, as I wiped faces, spooned yogurt, and cut up grapes. A life of traveling before kids makes my heart aflutter.

Cheers!

Emilia Rose

Today, for the first time, I became an aunt.

Up until this point James and Juliet were the first grandchildren on both sides of the family.

But today at 5:06 am, after only thirty minutes of pushing, beautiful Emilia Rose joined E's family.

She is tiny (5 lbs. 10 oz) and just as perfect as can be.

She smells like sugar, she squeaks like a kitten, and is as beautiful as her name suggests.

Congratulations Chelsea and Joe. Welcome to the family Emilia.

Spring at Temple Square

Sometimes when I blog I like to tell a story, sharing the photos in the order I took them. Other times I  like to just cut to the chase and post my favorite of the day at the top. So there it is, my absolute favorite of the day ever, right at the beginning.

After a rainy day yesterday full of errands and other not very exciting things, we decided to get out today. The morning was sunny but this afternoon a big cloud bank moved it. The overcast sky was nice for photos, but soon it was quite chilly. They are forecasting snow tomorrow.

Even with the cloudy skies and chilly temps, we decided to head downtown and visit Temple Square. I was hoping all the tulips were in bloom (however we were a touch too early). We did get lucky enough to see all the trees in bloom! And what a sight to see! I fear the snow might pull a lot of blossoms off the branches tomorrow, so we were just in time.

Branches heavy with petals.

There were a few tulips that were on the brink of opening.

Neither of the kids were in much of a mood to smile, but Daddy worked his magic.

According to James, the real reason we visit Temple Square is to ohh and awe over the fountains.

And this baby girl?! In addition to pulling her hair bow out over and over, she's started to walk! Just a couple of steps here and there, but this a big deal!

Across the street the mall was closed but James was ecstatic to find the fountains turned on.

Some bunny is fourteen months!

Baby bunny is fourteen months old yesterday! Oh my goodness! Where did the time go?!

She is a crawling, pulling up, cruising machine and now also stands unassisted. She has yet to take steps alone, but they are not far off. I bet within the month we'll have a walker on our hands (however I'm guessing it will be at least two months or more before she moves from crawling to walking full time).

She has had another rough month, but really, nothing compares to how bad February was, so March has been much easier. What makes it rough? She's getting her molars. Fast. These babies are huge and sharp and press on her little mouth all day and night. No wonder she's had some fussy days.

Over the last week she's also had another high fever (blah), a reduced appetite, and has been extra fussy. Took her to the doc on my birthday (blah again) and they said it was either teeth or a tummy bug. She's been pretty irritable since, so who knows.

You'd never know she's not feeling her best with photos like these! Daddy was home and helped with smile duty, and baby girl delivered!

She is making a TON of new sounds this month, and tries to repeat whatever we say. She gets so excited when we clap for her for saying "moon" or "blue" or when we go crazy when she stands up.

She is super shy around pretty much anybody other than immediate family, even friends and family she sees weekly she has to warm up to.

After Daddy went downstairs to continue working Juliet remembered she was feeling lousy and wouldn't give me another grin.

Growing teeth and/or having tummy aches is not fun.

Now onto likes and dislikes:

LIKES:

• Snuggles. Yep, when she's feeling her worst all she wants to do is lie her head on my shoulder and snuggle up. And she still snuggles every day for her afternoon nap.
• Nightly baths with her loud, crazy, splash obsessed big brother
• Yogurt and popsicles. When I couldn't get her to eat this month these two always seemed to hit the spot with her.
• Hiking in Zion. She did amazingly even with the teething.

DISLIKES:

• That blasted fever.
• Molars.
• Being strapped into her stroller. She's big and doesn't want to be held down.
• Food. For the last week or so she's eaten almost nothing. Boo.
• Staying up too late. Baby girl gets tired!

Finally, from 1 month until now:














Outfit details:
Blouse - Janie & Jack
Leggings - Baby Gap
Shoes - Vintage
Hair clip - Target

Daffodils in the garden

Every year in early April my family all dresses in yellow and we go to Red Butte Garden to get a photo in the daffodils. We bring the tripod and tell James to look at the camera and smile. This year we lucked out and even got a baby girl smile. What fun it is to look back on how our family changes and grows year to year.

Every single year I get a shot like this one below. The hillsides blanketed in daffodils beg to be photographed.

This year I decided to also get a few photos for Instagram with my phone, and ended up getting one of my favorite daffodil shots to date. Just love the angle. 

Within just the last few days things have been becoming alive. Leaves are just starting to open and the garden is once again green.

Another favorite from the day. Or maybe favorite from life. I just love these two.

Pink magnolias, oh my. Stunning.

This bright green branch just screamed spring to me. I knew that I wanted to add the text the moment I snapped the shot.

"Mommy! Look! A hole! I think a mousey lives down there! Or maybe a snuggle bunny!"

Now that spring has fully begun, I couldn't be more happy.

And of course I needed some side-by-sides:

Juliet 2012; Juliet 2013 (same bow!)

James 2011 (roughly Juliet's current age); James 2013


Family of four 2012; family of four 2013

We've been doing this tradition for years, before James even. To see them all click on last year's post right here.